QC Rejection "Does Not Reflect Age Client Requested"
The very vague QC suggestion of "Your recording does not reflect the age the client requested. Right now it sounds like a fair impersonation, however, we're not quite there yet." caused my re-submission of project 926F141A54180562C857 to be rejected as well, resulting in me losing the one speedy that has come across my dashboard in months. The chosen gender and age were "female teenager", but the client instructions said it should sound like a kid asking their mom to make the call.
Original submission: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wk4ekLKVWgaxRD7fbralK77k1dxtyu3M/view?usp=drive_link
Re-recorded submission: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tX1Y02M7WfYZLZNBTbPCca91RN-7Lbxn/view?usp=drive_link
Even though it seems like I will never get any more speedies or contests from you, I would at least like to know how I can improve on the off-chance something actually makes it through, because I would like to continue working with you.
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Hi there, Casey!
How do you do?
Since there was a dubious instruction towards the age the client was requesting, we've decided to remove this Rejection from your Stats.
We'll be assigning this ticket to a QC agent, so they can bring a more detailed feedback in regards to your impersonation!
Stay tuned for our replies!
Kind regards,
Gabriela Schneider
Hi Casey,
Thank you for your message and for reaching out to us on here.
Understandably this project sounded like a bit of an unusual one, where there was a switch in age categories at the last moment. However, we listened to your submissions and can offer some guidance should a situation like this happen again.
Your recording was good. But it didn't sound quite realistic and natural, it sounded like an obvious adult mimicking a child's voice. You are certainly not alone with all this, we have found that when adults perform as child voices, there are some common elements neglected. For instance, children also have fluctuations of register in their voices. Adults, when mimicking, tend to use head-voice much more than necessary, and this causes the impersonation to lose a lot of quality on the lower register.
Some ways to improve performance for it to sound more realistic, is to explore lowering the larynx to get more weight on the voice, even when talking in a higher pitch. Children also tend to be spacious while expressing themselves, so for practicing, we suggest an exaggeration while enunciating. Another useful tip, which may sound odd, is yawning a few times before performing. This helps bring more clarity to the voice, so it doesn't sound so muffled when raising the pitch too.
Hope you have a great week!
Kind regards,
Samantha
Hi Samantha!
Thank you so much for the specific feedback. That was very helpful. I have re-recorded the script taking your feedback into account, if it is possible to have you take a listen to this updated version:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/18HI1-F6NvTcmYT2fVDBphIQmWBquItfa/view?usp=sharing
Thanks!
Apologies Casey only noticing now you replied!
We have the weekly QC meeting later today, and I think it would be great to get a consensus on your latest performance. That way if any of the other QC chaps have any feedback or queries I'll let you know first thing tomorrow morning.
Until then, all the best!
Hello again Casey,
Thank you for your patience. We all took a listen to your latest sample and thought it sounded great! You can hear the fluctuations and expressions have certainly come through.
Thank you for being so proactive and taking the time to revise the recording whilst implementing the guidance mentioned. :)
Hope you have a great weekend!
All the very best,
Samantha
Thank you so much for your help! Honestly, it's the reminder to get out of head voice that did it. I work with children and dogs and find myself speaking in head voice 90% of the time in my everyday life and have to physically remember to bring it down when doing voiceover in my natural range.
Thanks!